Chapter 376: Beyond Evergreen

Vanthrice’s question brought the room back to silence.

The discussion about the Royal Capital had been surprisingly easy until that moment.

Everyone understood why Sage needed to leave Greyvale eventually, and nobody seriously believed the Adventurer Guild could remain confined to the Evergreen Region forever, but there was an obvious problem they had somehow avoided discussing.

Sage had been at the center of almost every major decision since the Guild’s creation.

He negotiated with merchants, approved expansions, created Guild rules, decided where money should be invested, dealt with threats, handled unusual missions, and somehow found himself involved whenever something went wrong.

Even with Lyana and Boren taking over more responsibilities as the Guild expanded, there were still decisions that eventually found their way back to Sage’s desk.

If Sage left Greyvale for the Royal Capital, somebody would have to run Evergreen.

Sage looked around the table before answering. "That’s actually one of the main reasons I’m giving myself several months before leaving. Evergreen can’t depend on me personally forever. If everything stops working the moment I leave Greyvale, then we haven’t built an organization. We’ve built a very complicated job for me."

Boren nodded with unusual seriousness. "A very well-paying job."

Sage ignored him and continued. "Right now, too many responsibilities eventually lead back to the same few people. That was manageable when we had dozens of Adventurers. It was still manageable when we had hundreds. Now we have branches across multiple cities, thousands of missions moving through the system, merchants working with us, training facilities, Guild properties, and more Adventurers registering every day. The larger we become, the more dangerous that structure becomes."

Lyana understood immediately. She had experienced that problem more directly than anyone else in the room. Whenever Sage disappeared on missions, administrative matters naturally began accumulating around her and Boren, especially those involving branch reports, registration records, mission disputes, payments, supplies, and correspondence.

"We need departments with people who can make decisions without waiting for the Guildmaster," Lyana said after thinking for a moment. "Not simply employees who carry out instructions. People with clearly defined authority."

"Exactly." Sage nodded. "Regional executives, financial officers, people responsible for mission management, training leadership, intelligence, logistics, security, and branch supervision. If a shipment of supplies is delayed in Riverdale, nobody should need to send a letter all the way to the Royal Capital asking me what to do about it. If two branches disagree over territory, Evergreen should resolve it. If a Branch Guildmaster needs emergency funds because of a monster outbreak, there should already be someone here authorized to approve those funds."

Gregor rubbed his chin as he listened, his expression becoming thoughtful. "So you’re planning to appoint another Guildmaster for Evergreen."

"Eventually."

Gregor raised an eyebrow. "Eventually?"

Sage leaned forward slightly. "I’m not appointing someone tomorrow and handing them the entire region. The structure isn’t mature enough yet, and frankly, neither are we. I want Evergreen governed by a management council first. That gives us time to see who handles responsibility well before one person is placed above the entire Regional Guild."

That answer immediately drew more attention from the table.

Sage pulled another sheet toward himself and began writing several positions while he explained how he imagined the temporary arrangement working.

The council would not replace the Guildmaster position permanently. It would exist during the transition, dividing important responsibilities among people who already understood those parts of the Guild.

Everyday matters would remain with the relevant departments, while major regional decisions would require consultation between the senior leadership.

Once the system had matured and Sage was satisfied that Evergreen could operate without constant intervention, one person could eventually be appointed Regional Guildmaster.

"Boren already understands Adventurer operations better than most people here," Sage continued. "Registrations, mission flow, complaints, rankings, Adventurer disputes, and the thousand ridiculous problems people somehow bring into the Guild Hall every week. He can oversee that side."

Boren straightened immediately, clearly pleased. "Finally, proper recognition of my talents."

Lyana glanced toward him. "Yesterday you approved a mission request without noticing the client had written the reward under the casualty estimate."

"That form was badly designed."

"You designed the form."

Several people around the table laughed, and Boren wisely decided not to continue defending himself.

"Lyana will remain on the administrative side," Sage continued. "Records, branch reports, internal correspondence, staffing, coordination between departments, and making sure people like Boren don’t accidentally bankrupt us."

"I have never accidentally bankrupted anything."

"That’s because Lyana checks your work."

Boren opened his mouth, thought better of it, and leaned back into his chair while Gregor laughed beside him.

Sage moved on. "Security and large-scale combat response will need people capable of handling threats that ordinary Adventurers can’t deal with. Valeria and Vanthrice are the obvious choices there."

Valeria’s eyes narrowed immediately.

"No."

Sage paused. "I haven’t even finished."

"If paperwork is involved, no."

Vanthrice turned toward her with the faintest trace of amusement. Gregor covered his mouth with one hand, while Brutus simply nodded as though Valeria had made the most reasonable statement of the entire meeting.

Sage sighed. "You wouldn’t be handling paperwork. You’d oversee combat readiness and respond when something threatens the Guild beyond what normal security can manage."

Valeria considered that.

"Fine."

Boren pointed across the table. "That was suspiciously easy."

Valeria looked at him.

Boren lowered his hand. "Perfect appointment. No objections."

The laughter returned briefly before Sage continued explaining the larger structure. He made it clear that none of these positions were final appointments yet. Over the coming months, he intended to observe how everyone handled greater responsibility while also recruiting people specifically trained for finance, logistics, branch management, and regional administration. The Guild had grown far beyond the point where every important position could simply be filled by whoever happened to be strongest. A powerful Adventurer could protect a branch from monsters and still be terrible at managing salaries, contracts, supplies, and hundreds of employees.

Gregor leaned back and studied the rough structure Sage had written. "How much are you planning to finish before leaving?"

"As much as possible without delaying the Capital unnecessarily."

Sage turned the paper around and began listing the stages.

"First, we complete the remaining important expansion inside Evergreen. We don’t need an office in every village before I leave, but every major city and important trade area should be within reach of a branch. Second, we stabilize branch income so the regional network can fund itself without Greyvale constantly covering shortages. Third, we train Branch Guildmasters and regional leadership so they aren’t dependent on instructions from here for every decision."

He tapped the fourth line.

"After that, intelligence personnel go to the Royal Capital ahead of me."

Vanthrice nodded slowly. "Before you arrive."

"Long before I arrive," Sage corrected. "I don’t intend to walk into the largest city in the Kingdom knowing nothing about the people controlling it. I want to know which noble houses matter, which merchant organizations control what markets, where the Knight Orders stand, which factions cooperate, which factions hate each other, who can be negotiated with, and who will see the Guild as a threat before we even open the doors."

Valeria gave a slight nod of approval.

"Once that groundwork is finished," Sage continued, "I’ll travel to the Capital and establish the Kingdom Headquarters. After the headquarters becomes stable, we begin entering other regions."

The room became quieter as the scale of what he was describing finally settled over everyone.

Until now, expansion had always meant another city. Another branch. Another road connecting Greyvale to somewhere else inside Evergreen. Even when Sage talked about the Royal Capital earlier, it had still sounded like a distant next step. Hearing the complete plan made it different. He wasn’t talking about opening one impressive Guild Hall in the Capital and calling it a success. He was talking about building an organization capable of spreading through the entire Kingdom, with Regional Headquarters governing networks of branches while a central headquarters coordinated them from above.

Caelis slowly leaned back in his chair. "That’s going to become enormous."

"That’s the idea," Sage replied.

One of the twenty Adventurers looked at the simple hierarchy still sitting on the table. "If it actually works, someone could travel from one side of the Kingdom to the other and still find an Adventurer Guild wherever they went."

Lyana smiled slightly. "Their Guild identification could be recognized everywhere as well. Missions could even move between regions. A merchant traveling across the Kingdom could submit requests through different branches instead of hiring new mercenaries every time."

"Exactly," Sage said. "And that’s only the Kingdom."

Gregor looked toward him.

Sage didn’t elaborate immediately, but he didn’t need to.

Boren stared at him for several seconds before pointing slowly. "Oh, no. I know that face."

Sage raised an eyebrow. "What face?"

"The face you make when you’re already planning something ten times bigger than whatever we’re discussing."

Mina leaned toward Sage and studied his face seriously. "Petty Uncle Sage does have that face."

"I don’t have a face."

"You definitely have a face," Gregor replied.

"That’s not what I meant."

The table dissolved into laughter once again, but beneath the humor, everyone understood what had gone unsaid. If the Adventurer Guild could spread throughout one Kingdom, there was nothing preventing it from crossing borders one day. Other Kingdoms. Other regions. Perhaps eventually places none of them had ever visited.

Eldoria was enormous.

And for the first time, the Adventurer Guild was beginning to feel like something that might someday become just as enormous.

The meeting continued for another half hour before Sage finally decided they had discussed enough for one day. The contracts were gathered and placed under Lyana’s care, preliminary responsibilities were noted for future discussion, and everyone slowly began leaving the conference room. Gregor departed with Brutus and Caelis while arguing about which of them would make the worst administrator. Vanthrice collected her bronze spear and quietly followed. Valeria left without another word after reminding Sage that she still refused paperwork under any circumstances. Boren remained long enough to ask Lyana whether being responsible for Adventurer operations came with an increased salary, only to be physically pushed toward the door when he began negotiating with himself.

Soon only Sage remained.

He sat quietly at the round table, looking at the empty chairs and the papers scattered across its surface. Through the windows he could hear the distant activity of the Adventurer District below, thousands of people moving through something that had once existed only as an idea in his head.

Greyvale was almost finished.

Evergreen was next.

After that came the Royal Capital.

Sage leaned back in his chair and looked toward the ceiling, already thinking about everything that needed to happen during the next several months.

Far away from the Adventurer District, however, another conversation was beginning.

There were no windows in the room.

There were no lamps either.

Only darkness filled the enclosed space, thick enough that the two figures within it could barely be distinguished from their surroundings. One stood quietly near the far wall while another remained several steps behind him, waiting without making a sound.

After a long silence, the kneeling figure finally lowered his head.

His voice was quiet.

"Riven is dead."